Disney+ UK Password Sharing Rules And Pricing Revealed

The era of carefree password sharing on Disney+ is officially coming to an end, and we can finally unveil the long-awaited details of Disney+’s new ‘Extra Members’ feature, including the pricing.

Remember when Disney+ started talking tough about password sharing last year? Well, the day of reckoning has arrived, as full details of Disney+’s new sharing scheme (in the UK) have quietly appeared on their official support pages.

So, what does this ‘Extra Members’ scheme mean for you? In a nutshell, it’s Disney+’s way of allowing you to share your account with people one person outside your household – but for an additional fee.

You’ll be able to add one extra member to your account, who’ll get their own login and profile, but won’t have to pay for a full subscription (see full details below).

So whether you’ve been sharing your account with your best mate in another city or your gran who lives across the country, it’s time to sit up and pay attention – as although the scheme hasn’t launched yet, it’s set to be introduced very soon.

• Update: Disney has now issued an official launch statement, saying “These features and capabilities are now available in the US, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region” – so although I’m not seeing the feature in the UK just yet, it should be imminent.

Disney+ in the UK: The Road So Far

When Disney+ first graced our screens in the UK back in March 2020, it came with a simple, straightforward offering: a single subscription tier priced at £5.99/month.

This plan was a cord-cutter’s dream, including 4K streaming, four concurrent streams, and ad-free viewing.

But as we all know, good things rarely last forever in the world of streaming. February 2021 saw the first UK price hike (along with the introduction of the adult-oriented Star category), with the monthly cost jumping to £7.99 (or £79.90 for an annual subscription). The features, however, remained unchanged.

Fast forward to November 2023, and Disney+ decided to shake things up even more. They introduced a new tiered system, which is still in place today:

Standard With Ads: At £4.99/month, this tier offers Full HD quality, two concurrent streams, and no downloads, with adverts included.

Standard: £7.99/month or £79.90 annually; this option includes Full HD quality and adds the download capability but only supports 2 concurrent streams.

Premium: The most comprehensive tier, at £10.99/month or £109.90 annually, offers 4K UHD & HDR quality, four streams, Dolby Atmos audio, and the download capability.

For those keeping score at home, this meant that existing subscribers who wanted to keep their 4K quality and four concurrent streams had to move to the new Premium tier, effectively facing a 37.5% price increase. 

The Password Sharing Crackdown and Extra Members Scheme

Now, Disney+ is following in Netflix’s footsteps by cracking down on password sharing outside of households.

But why the sudden change of heart?

For years, streaming services turned a blind eye to password sharing, seeing it as a way to attract new users and grow their subscriber base.

For us viewers, it was a brilliant way to save a few quid, sometimes even splitting the cost among a group of friends.

However, as the streaming market has matured and competition has intensified, these companies are now looking to convert shared accounts into paying customers. Netflix led the charge in early 2023, and now Disney+ is joining the fray.

What’s Changing with Disney+?

Disney+’s password-sharing crackdown actually started a year ago, in September 2023, with an updated subscriber agreement.

This new agreement defined a ‘household’ as “the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein.”

In plain English, this means you’re only supposed to share your account with people who live with you. Disney+ states that it may analyse account usage to ensure compliance and could limit or terminate access for violations.

However, there wasn’t much enforcement done throughout the year – but now that the Extra Members scheme is launching, that is likely to change.

The New Disney+ Household Rules

So, what exactly constitutes a ‘household’ according to Disney+? A household is based on shared internet connection details.

Devices that regularly log into your Disney+ account from the same internet access point will likely be determined to be part of your household.

Interestingly, Disney+ doesn’t use precise geolocation data to detect and establish your household. Instead, it relies on factors like regular activity from the same devices and location.

If you’re away from home (say, on holiday), you might see a message saying “This TV doesn’t seem to be part of the Disney+ Household for this account”.

In this case, you can select “I’M AWAY FROM HOME” to continue watching. You can update your household location (if you move, or if you go on a very long summer holiday), but there may be a limit to how often you can do this.

This prevents people from constantly changing their ‘household’ in order to share with others.

Under these new rules, sharing is only allowed within your household.

This means you can share with family members or flatmates living at the same address, watch Disney+ on your mobile devices when you’re away from home, and log in on a new TV-connected device when you’re staying somewhere else temporarily.

What’s not allowed? Sharing your account with friends or family members who regularly live at a different address, giving your login details to someone outside your household, or using your account primarily from a location that’s not your home address.

Enter the Extra Members Feature

To address users’ desire for sharing while still monetising these additional viewers, Disney+ is introducing the ‘Extra Members’ feature.

This is designed to be an official, paid alternative to informal password sharing:

• Extra Members must be at least 18 years old.
• They must reside in the same country where the Disney+ subscription was created.
• They can’t have an active or cancelled Disney+ subscription (so people can’t use this to “return” to Disney+)
• Each subscription can only have one Extra Member add-on.
• Extra Members get their own profile and login details.
• They can only stream on one device at a time.
• They have access to the same content and most features as the main account holder.

If you’re the account holder, you will be able to add an Extra Member through the Disney+ website. The Extra Member will then receive an e-mail invitation to activate the new account.

If the Extra Member already has a profile on your existing Disney+ account (because, let’s say, you’ve been sharing the account until now) – it’s possible to turn that existing profile into an Extra Member, thus saving the playlist and watch history of that profile.

Disney+ Extra Members Pricing

The cost for an Extra Member depends on your existing Disney+ plan (so the Extra Member can only be on the same tier as the main account holder).

For the Standard with Ads tier, it’s £3.99/month for one additional Extra Member.

For both the Standard and Premium tiers, it’s £4.99 monthly for one Extra Member.

It’s worth noting that Extra Member pricing is always billed monthly, even if your main Disney+ subscription is billed annually.

The account holder can cancel the Extra Member add-on at any point (or transfer it to someone else). The member whose account has been cancelled, can choose to move his profile to a regular paid membership.

When Will This Start?

After we broke this story, Disney+ issued an official statement, saying the “Paid Sharing” feature is now available in the US, Europe, and a few other countries.

While I’m not seeing it here in the UK yet (as of this writing), the ability to add an Extra Member should go live shortly. Here’s what it looks like in the US:

Disney+ vs Netflix: The Extra Members Showdown

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because Netflix introduced a similar feature last year.

Netflix allows up to two extra members on Standard or Premium plans, while Disney+ only allows one.

Netflix charges £4.99 per extra member, regardless of your plan, while Disney+’s pricing varies based on your plan.

Both services require extra members to be in the same country as the main account holder and give extra members their own profile and login.

The End Of Account Sharing?

While the days of freely sharing your Disney+ password with friends and family are ending, the new Extra Members feature does provide an official (albeit paid) way to extend your subscription beyond your household.

It’s a significant change, and one that’s likely to ruffle a few feathers. But with streaming services under pressure to boost revenues, it was perhaps inevitable that the password-sharing party couldn’t last forever.

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